Di Bradini Cup 50/U21WC71 Everything Thread

[Chromatika]

Almanac of Chromatik Districts/Islands
Chromatika is composed of seven different political divisions: Five Districts and Two Islands. The five districts are Capital, Coastal, Deprí, Heartland, and Mountain; the two islands are Myana and Urrhed. Let us take a deep dive into these political subdivisions, in no particular order.

Coastal District

1. General Information
Population: 1,309,701 (6.55% of total population)
Lhor: 701,426
Pria: 325,347
Larhai: 112,541
Rhoni: 99,142
Other Locations: 71,245
Capital: Lhor
District Commissioner: Nancy Grossman, 51 (Rainbow Party)

2. Location
Located in the northeast corner of Chromatika, the Coastal District includes the tip of the northeast coast as well as the Island of Dorri. It's one of the more temperate regions of Chromatika, more like the Myana and Urrhed Islands and far warmer than the Mountain District. It also remains one of the smallest Districts in Chromatika by land mass.

3. Historical Information
Pre-Revolution: During the days of the Chromatik Party, the Coastal District was the place was one of two districts that were usually reserved for Chromatik Party retreats, alongside the Mountain District to the southeast. The ROYG (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green) population in the area mostly dealt in the service industry in taking care of those people as well as some of the more exotic fruits that grew well in the Island of Dorri. Lhor became a beach town in this era due to the Chromatik Party being fixated on the concept that the Myana and Urrhed Islands should be more for shipbuilding and fishing than for vacationing. The Chromatik Navy had a sparse presence in the area due to there not being any neighbors to the northeast, making this a sleepy, quaint paradise for the elite of the Chromatik Party.

During the Revolution:
The Coastal District was one of those places that was seized last by the Rainbow Revolution. There were hardly any military or cultural targets in the area, and when the Revolution became more than just words on a screen, all the people who had been vacationing in Lhor and the surrounding areas were definitely called back into service. The Rainbow Revolution discovered absolutely no resistance in the District when they finally rolled in, some of the cities even receiving them with open arms. The District did send a moderate part of its population to help with the Revolution when the call was sent out; they returned as heroes.

Post-Revolution:
The Coastal District has sent representatives to the Myana and Urrhed Islands to teach them about how to have a recreational side to their beaches while receiving representatives in return that has been slowly helping the District get on its feet in terms of fishing and other maritime businesses. It still remains one of the most popular vacation spots in Chromatika due to the infrastructure that remains, but as it's all owned by private businesses with a moderate government oversight, it's nowhere near as extravagant or ridiculous as it used to be. The District, though only having 6.5% of the national population, is well aware of its identity, struggles, and triumphs.

4. Major Cities
Lhor is the District Capital and one of the biggest coastal cities in Chromatika. It has a brief history of whaling before the Chromatik Party decreed that it wasn't worth the effort (one of the things that it did right, for once, though it was due to lack of knowledge, not intent). Now, Lhor's primary source of income is tourism, both from its beachfront hotels to whalewatching tours. Lhorites are fashionable, a trend that can be traced back to the Chromatik Party's influence of using it as a vacation town; now, it's due to Lhor being the location of most of Chromatika's fashion agencies, though some companies are moving to Chromia to be closer to the Capital. As more than half the population of the District lives here, it's the heartbeat of the District.

Pria is at the northeastern coast of Chromatika, and is where the ferry to the Island of Dorri is located. The Island of Dorri is a wildlife preserve that doesn't have any signs of civilization except for an observatory for scientists to study the local wildlife and the tides. Besides being a research town, Pria also has some fishing and watersports. It is the surfing capital of Chromatika, as waves can get pretty high with a favorable wind, leading to ideal surfing conditions - though Tihon is giving them a run for their money these days.

Larhai used to be a purely residential town employed by the Chromatik Party to house all the workers that were working in the resorts and hotels of Lhor. After the revolution, it's become a small city of working class people who are all trying to make a daily living. It is one of those towns in every district that isn't the flashiest and doesn't really have anything to have it stand out, but is important anyway as it holds all the people. Death Templars Law Firm's regional office in the Coastal District is in Larhai so that DTLF can hire as many working class people as is needed for the different avenues of business available. Though people move in and out of Larhai all the time - coming in when they need a job/an affordable place to live and then leaving as soon as they can afford somewhere better - such a town is needed in any society.

Rhoni was the site of the Dark Gold's private vacation home during the days of the Chromatik Party. The Dark Gold, or the premier leader of the Party, had a twenty story mansion in the city with a wait staff of about a thousand people. Now, the mansion has been converted to a General Hospital, the biggest in the District with a research wing that is one of the biggest in the entire nation. Rhonites still fight a bit of a stereotype based on how their city was founded, but they're doing all they can to get rid of that image.

5. Demographics
As most of the Coastal District were populated by those that came from other Districts and then stayed, the District has a fairly diverse population. Of the major races of Chromatika (East Asian, Eastern European), the population is 57% European, 40% East Asian, and 3% other. All five of the nation's national languages (Mandarin, French, Korean, Russian, English) can be heard throughout the District, with no one city having preference of one over any of the others.

6. Sports Clubs
Football
Red League - Lhor
Orange League - Pria, Rhoni, Rhonii FC
Yellow League - Pria City, Rhoni City
Green League - Larhai
Blue League: Larhai City FC, Lhor United

Lhor's fallen on some hard times in the Red League, but with being bought by Sawa, fortunes may be changing. The three Rhoni clubs are all struggling at their varying levels, while Pria remains a very stable Orange League side. Larhai's foray into football hasn't left the fourth tier, yet.

Baseball
Rhoni Rhonin - Season 1 Runners-Up, Season 3 Champions
Larhai Legends

To field two out of sixteen teams in the CBL while being such a small District is an honor. The Legends have fallen down, but with the Rhoni Ronin prevailing, baseball is alive and well.

Basketball
Pria Tyrants

The Tyrants have always been competitive in the CBA. No other cities field teams.

Hockey
Lhor Peregrine Falcons

The Peregrine Falcons really struggled in their initial season, finishing last.

Gridiron Football
None.

Baseball remains the Coastal District's best outcome in terms of sports.

Next: Heartland District

[Mytanija]

GANNOT, KURTCEHAJIC HEADLINE INTERESTING TEAM
ADEM FEJZIC HAS TURNED TO A NUMBER OF PLAYERS BASED ABROAD FOR THIS DBC SQUAD

by Irma Simunec

A strike partnership of Damien Gannot and Lazar Prinelec will spearhead Adem Fejzic’s DBC squad in Valanora, the pair combined for a total of 23 goals in 48 games last season and should provide opponents with plenty to think about. Gannot was particularly good at the last DBC, scoring 8 goals in 5 games before Mytanija were knocked out at the quarter final stage by Rushmori rivals Græntfjall. Outside of the forward pairing four others have DBC experience, including Zijad Kurtcehajic, a player who is expected to co-captain the squad from the base of midfield (Damien Gannot being the other to be bestowed with that honour). Kurtcehajic impressed in spurts last season, coming off the bench for Atletik Thessia and deputising well for the supremely experienced Branko Brkljacic. It is understood that Kurtcehajic has learned a lot from the national team veteran and will be loaned out to Litala ’93 for the 29/30 season to gain more first team experience as well as a token of the friendship that exists between the two clubs who share left-wing political allegiances.

Adem Fejzic has called upon seven players who are based overseas, including starting left-back Vuk Bajalica (Miruan City, Tikariot); and starting centre-back Amar Kovacevic (East Railway, Astograth). The pair are thought of pretty highly within the FSM and Kovacevic in particular enthused many during his 16 league appearances last term. He can impact the game in both boxes with his aerial ability and will partner Bigger Mbala-Ekakia in the centre of defence. Mbala-Ekakia is a fantastic prospect and is regarded as Atletik’s long-term replacement for the outgoing Grigorij Savicevic (he recently completed an NSD 8 million move to Audioslavian giants Izotz Zubia). Mbala-Ekakia is the son of Ketioulais migrants and could well go on to be the first ever black player to make an appearance for the senior national team. It would be an achievement that would be greeted more positively in some Mytanar cities than in others, unfortunately racism still exists in Mytanar society, but this would be a big step in terms of representation for the not insignificant black Mytanar community.

The Mytanar diaspora in Prahecq has once again been tapped into, with third-choice goalkeeper Jurica Botunac selected from Marianne, the country’s most successful team. He may well be one for the future, but his presence as their starting goalkeeper means he has some quality. Central midfielder Pierre Dresevic will be a useful creative presence off the bench and is a player who has been linked with the likes of FK Arsika and 1923 Esca over the summer. The third and final Prahecq-born member of the squad is Olivier Golodkovsky, he is another from the infamous banlieue of Clichy-sous-Bois with its large Mytanar immigrant community. His father was a Magev dissident who fought alongside the Otpor against Kalinina’s forces, Olivier has come through the same youth system which produced Jasno Odonelec and plays in a very similar manner too. Odonelec is a big hero to Golodkovsky, coming through the academy before him and representing a positive example of what a Mytanar dual national can achieve.

Adem Fejzic hasn’t been set any targets for this tournament, but the experimental nature of the squad and the introduction of a number of overseas based players means there will likely be a degree of leniency in terms of results. A good showing would likely be a return to the quarter finals and with a better draw at that point then who knows what could happen, but there does appear to be a move towards using the DBC as a way to give potential future national team players competitive experience and almost as a practical test for their tactical education with the Mytanar system. Whether they succeed or not the experience could prove invaluable in the future and of course, the real quiz is whether it helps us build a team capable of competing for senior honours at the World Cup, Copa Rushmori or the Cup of Harmony.

[Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom]

RekanSport
Di Bradini Cup 50 Preview
By Lukas Gruber-Lange

---

With three matches to play against classy competition, Zeta Reka twenty three best young talents descended on Aranfield Bridge and Duran Palace in the famous nation of Valanora.

The National Team U-21 was designed as a junior version of senior coach Stanimirić’s 4-3-3. Joko Petarić has some strong expectations of his side, and coming from the same club background as the senior national team coach, he has the experience to guide players through a possession based, vertically progressive counter attacking game plan that employs a high defensive line and higher engagement. Each player has a role to help win the match, and with players like this caution is a suggestion, not law. Don’t expect a long clean sheet streak. “Our standard set up is demanding” sports writer Djoko Weljkowić wrote in his nationally syndicated column, he also poised a question “Is the Rekan model of sports too complex for kids?” RekanSport reporter Ljubomira Jewrić conducted an interview about the youth team with former senior head coach Marko Dusan at his home in Korvann. Dusan had an optimistic take of the Rekan side and it's chances in their first U-21 competition. "Even with high demand," Dusan predicted that, "some fantastic plays should make up for youthful mistakes."

Former U-16 keeper of the year Wlad Dušanić, unrelated to assistant coach Dušanić, will sweep and act as a valuable part of the team's progressive possession game. The two center backs provide another safety net while playing the ball to kick off box to box attacks. Anubis Zlatkowić could also be seen taking free kicks, and is one of the best ball playing center backs in the Rekan league. "A star for the future" Dusan said of him, while also complimenting the three DD Porto Nowi contracted players on the defense, "Iwanić, Mayer and Djordjewić all have bright futures." Djordjewić and Bartowić were selected as the best conditioned fullbacks in the age group. The fullbacks also exemplify the Rekan traditions of employing fast players and making them work to the bone. If one does not have cardio in Rekan football Dusan speculates that they will, "suck wind harder than the ball boy. Those kids do move a lot for kids."

The midfield trio take up a mix of roles. The holding/defensive midfielder is to be a linchpin, ending opposing attacks and starting new drives, for this role unproven prospect Lazar Macek-Leibberman was selected. His backup Desimirić was a former teammate a the youth level and has similar skills. Macek-Leibberman ability to damage the defense with his passes will be vital in victory. Opština’s job is to set the tempo and blueprint the attack in real time. K.A. Stewanowić is one of the more vital attackers on the team, he learned dribbles in the lower leagues of Zeta Reka, and will be using it to make things pop. "I wanted to sign Stewanowić six years ago," Dusan told us, "I was director of football at Platinastigrade, and he didn't want to come. Money was an issue. But he's done well in Quebec. Perhaps he will be worth a lot money in the future."

The attacking trident has some solid scoring options. Tagaginow Djordjić can score, but he is also someone who may travel low to make room for players like Stewanowić and Zurkowić. The hybrid false and true nine role for Djordjić will be a major test for a man who’s being scouted for the senior team. Should Djordjić not cut the mustard, Boris Krakan has similar supporting skills. Konstantina Popowić is a wild card, the Cup of Harmony veteran will look to use her speed and low center of gravity to create chances at the right time. Thorben Aleksander and midfielder Aleksander-Tal Mirowić are the left flank's attacking forwards. Those wingbacks are back too, looking for overlaps. Dusan admitted that height is an issue on crosses, but pointed out that, "overlaps can have all sorts of follow up plays, your midfielders can cut inside without passing, or they can roll passes in the opposite direction and force more motions from the defenders. Once I lost a bet when the other team scored twice thanks to overlaps. I had to paint my sedan brown and green."

---

RekanSport Top 6:

---

• Di Bradini Cup 50 Preview (Special Free Article)
• FLF ZRiH Divizija 1 Loan Rumors
• Leather Ball Game coaches interviewed by Platinastigrade
• Lederballspiel Klub Strumsburg appeals trademark case
• Outdoor hockey league bankrupt
• Editorial by Wladmir Zuzkoff: Tall Traveling Tales with the National Football Team

Free Articles remaining this month: 4

[Krytenia]

Young, Gifted, and Cyan
By Rami Niblick in Char Sara, Valanora

WITH the seniors having set the bar with a surprise third place at the AOCAF Cup, the microscope now zooms in on the next generation of Krytenia's finest. The landmark fiftieth edition of the Di Bradini Cup gets underway in Valanora with a fresh crop of bright young things hoping to make their mark on the international stage.

Doing so, though, may be tough going. The DBC is a tough proving ground, attracting some of the cream of the crop of contemporary young players. In this regard, Group E is no exception. The combined might of Kohnhead, Juvencus, and Huelavia are certainly not to be sniffed at, and it wouldn't be out of place to suggest that any two of that set of four could advance to the Round of Sixteen. Essentially, there's no room for error for anyone in the group stage.

First up on the docket is Huelavia. They're yet to confirm their squad for the tournament, so it's hard to say who the potential dangermen (or women) are, and what Krytenia will need to do to stop them. What is for sure, though, is that in this particular crucible, three points are an absolute must. Gary Barton knows this, and though he has said that he's confident in his young charges, there'll be nothing taken for granted. Let's hope the likes of Eli Molinari, Graham Stone, Michael Sveyn, and Cande Montalban can live up to the hype and get the Dragons spitting fire. Onward!

[HUElavia]

HUElavia National U-21 Football Team

Uniforms

Style: +1.5

Squad:
Goalkeepers-
#1: Marta Marin (21 Years Old) (1.78 m)
#12: Pavlo Bohdanovych (20 Years Old) (1.87 m)
#23: Sofia Baptista (21 Years Old) (1.77 m)

Defenders-
#2: Samuel Di Donato (21 Years Old) (1.85 m) (CB)
#3: Lena Rodionovna (20 Years Old) (1.75 m) (CB)
#4: Jaques Krickstein (21 Years Old) (1.80 m) (LB-RB)
#5: Laura Ezwa (21 Years Old) (1.72 m) (RB-LB)
#12: Pillkosisa Cachi Canchasto (1.79 m) (LB-RB)
#15: Takao Tsukino (21 Years Old) (1.86 m) (CB)
#18: Nádia Resendes (19 Years Old) (1.77 m) (CB)
#22: Soo-Jin Tan (20 Years Old) (1.65 m) (RB-LB)

Midfielders-
#6: Maxina Ocampo (20 Years Old) (1.62 m) (DM-CM)
#8: Diogo Nazario (19 Years Old) (1.77 m) (DM-CM)
#10: Hisako Mizuno (20 Years Old) (1.64 m) (DM-CM-AM)
#14: Augustin Bonhomme (21 Years Old) (1.70 m) (CM-AM)
#16: Qhispe Tomayro Maygua (19 Years Old) (1.75 m) (DM-CM-AM)
#19: Saalima al-Safi (21 Years Old) (1.60 m) (DM-CM-AM)

Attackers-
#7: Manuela Braz-Bitencourt (20 Years Old) (1.76 m) (LW-RW)
#9: Pierrette Girault (19 Years Old) (1.59 m) (CF-ST)
#11: Woo-Jin Sol (21 Years Old) (1.80 m) (RW-LW)
#17: Natanael Silvestre (20 Tears Old) (1.73 m) (LW-RW)
#20: Eduard Romanovich (19 Years Old) (1.82 m) (CF-ST)
#21: Maria Di Stefano (21 Years Old) (1.69 m) (RW-LW)

Formation:
4-2-3-1

Starting XI:


Roles-
Captain: Sol
Vice-Captain: Di Donato, Marin
Free-Kicks:
Penalties: Sol
Corners:

Head Coach:
Clara Savedra (51 Years Old)

Assistant Coaches:
Adolphus Banville (54 Years Old), Lauren Abomo (52 Years Old)

(For B-Team squad, switch all players with their back up counterpart)

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
RP scoring events: Y
Godmod scoring events: Y
RP injuries to my players: Y
Godmod injuries to my players: Y, but nothing too serious
Give red cards to my players: Y, but please send me a TG or message via discord about what it is
Godmod other events: Y

[San Ortelio]

“You’re going to look stupid.”

It seemed as if this retort should have gone the other way, considering the fact that Nkechi Orjee was simply wearing his national team track suit whilst Ciro Sandri wore his speedos over what must have been his sisters leggings, whilst sporting a Superman mask. Yet, it was the towering left back who uttered those words. Both being players for a lesser known side, the two had ended up in as roomies whilst most had picked a teammate or an old acquaintance from the previous tournament. It was one of the ways with which manager Claudio Ricci tried to ‘show confidence in their professionality’ – unfortunately he had brought it with the vibe of a school teacher trying to come across as ‘the cool one’.

“I don’t want to – besides, I didn’t bring anything.”
“We can smack something together,” Ciro tried.

His mind wandered off to the options but the hotel room was Spartan in its classy tidiness – maybe they could rip apart a spare bed sheet? Ciro was so focused on potential disguise material ”Maybe something ancient style – we could turn that lampshade into a cool helmet” that he completely missed the first part of Nkechi’s sentence. Or maybe he simply hadn’t spend enough time with him to know his stubborn side, so the winger calmly repeated.

“I don’t want to, Ciro, and I won’t.”

That was the end of that. As such, they sat in silence on their beds, awaiting the signal. A few of the veterans of the ‘Class of 49’ had organized tonight and Ricci had given them free reign. It seemed strange that they could haze the rookies, considering the majority were newcomers, but the mystery surrounding it had drawn in everyone. Well, almost everyone. Ahead of the trip, Attilio Quintarelli, the generally accepted head of state in these matters, had warned everyone to bring some sort of dress up along. And so, when Ciro stuck out his head after a few hard knocks on the door, he could see a traditional farmer, a Cinderella, a robot and something which held the middle ground between a furry and Winnie the Pooh – or in other words, the crème de la crème of the San Ortelian youth football.

“Behold for they will enter as youngster and leave as men!” Attilio shouted as they crammed themselves in the small conference room which had been dubbed as the location for the ceremony. The leader had given his appearance a certain royal dignity with an oversized crown whilst wearing an amalgam of captain ribbons around his arms, legs and head. Even if it was technically impossible – this was the second tournament after all – he wore it with a flair as if this was the expected outfit for these occasions.
“Kechi! You’re late, buddy. Com’on, get in your outfit fast enough and I won’t make you regret it,” Attilio winked. After all, it was intended to be just a bit of good f-
“I’m ready,” Nkechi replied without batting an eye and scuffed to the furthest chair of the room but not without remarking loud and clear, “and besides, it’s Nkechi. With an N.”

Quintarelli hesitated for a second. It annoyed him greatly that one of the newcomers immediately ignored the rules they had set – but then again, he didn’t want to push back. Especially since…

He and Orjee had played one another domestically and had fought a fair share of duels by the touchline. In the Stadio del Fiume, the supporters could nearly touch the players and they definitely tried, in a way.

The words from the fans – his fans – for Orjee had shook him. “Go back to your country” was nearly the nicest part, no need to publish the rest.

Before, Attilio never had bothered much with politics. Of course he knew there was a Kitaran minority – the country bordered the region where he lived and there was a small quarter in Pesari with some Kitaran shops and restaurants. Not his style, but yeah, styles and flavors. Still, it wasn’t necessarily the amount of vitriol in that game that opened his eyes. At halftime, he approached a few club veterans: if they would put in a few words against the blatant racism, the few rotten apples in the basket (or stand, in this case) would keep it to themselves.

”Let’s stay out of that, Quinta, no need to crack a hornet’s nest.”
“With them ‘cultural movement and all that’… Pff, that’s politics and here is sport.”
Or even.
”If it makes him play worse, I’ld rather have them shouting a bit more.”

He had decided at that day to be a different captain, one that leads by example. So was reprimanding the very first Ortelian footballer of Nyowani Kitaran descent for something stupid like a costume a good idea? Attilio glanced to Orjee, seated alone and with his sleeves rolled up. The blood-red tattoo of the machete on his forearm, the Kitaran vexillological symbol, flickered in the neon light. Lets just leave him be, for a second.

And as such, he started. Some of the newcomers who carried a bit of a reputation were called to the front for a special exercise. The infamously lazy Giorgio Maio got himself weights to carry around for the course of the ceremony. Labrazzi - who upon his first appearance in the Catrallo Calcio dressing room brought homemade pie, much to the amusement of the older players – was given a chef’s hat and some nonsensical food stuff to make and eat something in five minutes: it must be said that his tarte brésilienne au curry et ketchup still looked decent.

But the majority was simply called to the front to flaunt their dress and sing a song. Goalkeeper Domenico Agnano clearly had made an effort, wearing four different layers from police man to construction worker, allowing his way through a Village People song. And so, one by one, the youngsters took the stage. So far, Attilio had lived up to his promise to Ricci – nothing rowdy, just some laughs. Running out of victims, he eventually turned to the guy in the corner who hadn’t yet made a move.

“Ke- Nkechi, you’re up. You’ve dressed up as San Ortelian footballer,” he grinned.

It wasn’t but when the words escaped his mouth when he realized it could be taken as something different than just a slight jab at his lack of costume.

“And still he ain’t one,” someone in the back said. Carlo? Not sure. Whoever it was, the words resounded harsh enough in the conference room and the grins quickly disappeared as Orjee rose without a word and walked out – he seemed to have seen enough.

“That…” Attilio hesitated. Should he run after Nkechi? And what then? He eventually settled on a flustered “That wasn’t necessary, guys,” and a disappointed look to the crowd. Leading by example suddenly sounded a lot more fun in theory. Luca Cadili, a born jester and well aware of the tenseness of the situation already stepped on the table to show the hole in his Cinderella costume once more – for unclear reasons a howler with the lads – when the door opened with a loud crash.

Where he had exactly snatched the giant flag from was not exactly clear at the time – only afterwards Attilio realized that he must have taken it of the front porch where the kind hosts had placed it in sympathy of the presence of the young squad – but Nkechi Orjee held it firmly in his left hand as he paced towards the makeshift stage. Luca jumped off just in time as Orjee took it, cleared his throat and then gazed across the room, trying to look everyone deadpan in the eye at once. One more soft cough and then a – surprisingly fragile yet deep – sound erupted from his throat.

”Amidst the mists of the bay, the glory awakes,
The wind kisses the flagpole, bends but never breaks, …”

The mists of the bay is not the national anthem – an instrumental ditty going by Scogliera nella Tempesta has that honour – but it is the patriotic song drunken supporters will start in the pub at four in the morning. As Orjee continued, Attilio joined in. He had done so with YMCA as well, one might argue, but still. A few additional voices followed but by the end of the first verse and it’s characteristic, dramatic from the mists of the baaaaaaaaaay, it wasn’t a full choir yet.

Nkechi Orjee halted a second, looked towards Carlo Qualla and spoke – “what’s the matter – don’t know the lyrics of one of our national songs?” before continuing with the chorus.

[Equestrian States]

The Pony Principality of Equestria
National U21 Hoofball Team - Di Bradini Cup 50 Roster

Quick Facts
Style Modifier: +2.75
Nickname: The Little Ponies
All-Time Record: 40-15-29 (0-0-0 at Di Bradini Cup 50)
Achievements: Champions (DBC 27); 3rd Place (DBC 26); Quarterfinals (DBC 32, DBC 41); Round of 16 (DBC 24, DBC 25, DBC 29, DBC 30, DBC 31, DBC 33, DBC 43, DBC 44)

Kits

Home - Away - Reverse

The Equestrian U21 squad receives its kits from Generosity Sporting Equipment, an Equestria-based sportswear company that has recently begun to stake a claim on the international hoofball kit market, with clubs in Atlantian Oceania and Esportiva among those to hire their designers. The Equestrian kits were designed to be simple and easy to identify, using the national colors of purple and orange.

Tournament Schedule

Group Stage - Group A
MD1: Sarzonia vs. Equestria at Duran Palace (cap. 51,000) in Valanari, VAL
MD2: Equestria vs. Zeta Reka & Hugeltaldom at Duran Palace (cap. 51,000) in Valanari, VAL
MD3: Chromatika vs. Equestria at Duran Palace (cap. 51,000) in Valanari, VAL

Players

Goalkeepers
GK - #1 - Emerald Eclipse (Thestral - Female) - 21 y/o - AC Hollow Shades (UHA United League)
GK - #20 - Cherry Blossom (Unicorn - Female) - 18 y/o - Istria City FC (Shango-Fogoa Premier League)
GK - #23 - Henrik Nazarian (Human - Male) - 20 y/o - Mareseilles HC (UHA United League)

Defenders
LB - #3 - Arcane Blaze (Crystal Unicorn - Male) - 20 y/o - Crystopolis City (UHA United League)
CB - #2 - Midnight Merlot (Thestral - Male) - 21 y/o - AC Hollow Shades (UHA United League)
CB - #5 - Diamond Shard (Crystal Pony - Male) - 20 y/o - Busembe Timberwolves (Shango-Fogoa Premier League)
RB - #4 - Rosetta (Pegasus - Female) - 21 y/o - Stalliongrad HC (UHA United League)
RB - #16 - Cobalt Thane (Frost Pony - Male) - 19 y/o - Crystopolis City (UHA United League)
CB - #18 - Red Velvet (Earth Pony - Male) - 21 y/o - Sweet Apple City (UHA United League)
LB - #17 - Stellan Rundström (Human - Male) - 19 y/o - Manehattan Dragons (UHA United League)
CB - #22 - Honeydew (Earth Pony - Female) - 20 y/o - Crystal City United (UHA United League)

Midfielders
DM - #7 - Winterspear (Pegasus - Female) - 21 y/o - Cloudsdale Flyers (UHA United League) - -C-
CM - #8 - Light Aurora (Unicorn - Female) - 21 y/o - Ponyville Galaxy (UHA Second League)
CM - #11 - Copper Wire (Earth Pony - Male) - 20 y/o - Ponyville United (UHA United League)
RM - #21 - Angel Wings (Pegasus - Female) - 18 y/o - Jinja City FC (Shango-Fogoa Premier League)
CM - #13 - Jazzy Apple (Earth Pony - Female) - 21 y/o - Appleoosa HC (UHA United League)
LM - #14 - Lemon Zest (Unicorn - Female) - 18 y/o - Everfree Guardians (UHA Second League)
CM - #19 - Angelic Breeze (Pegasus - Female) - 17 y/o - Storm City HC (UHA United League)

Forwards
LW - #9 - Star Dew (Pegasus - Male) - 21 y/o - Freeport United (UHA United League)
ST - #10 - Sara Valestein (Human - Female) - 20 y/o - Condottiere (UHA United League) - -VC-
RW - #6 - Mint Leaf (Crystal Pony - Female) - 21 y/o - Crystal Guard HC (UHA United League)
ST - #12 - Summer Rose (Crystal Pegasus - Female) - 19 y/o - Royal Crystal Palace (UHA United League)
ST - #15 - Stardancer (Thestral - Female) - 18 y/o - AC Hollow Shades (UHA United League)

Staff
Head Coach - Red Dwarf (Unicorn - Male) - 57 y/o
Assistant Coach - Fire Dash (Pegasus - Male) - 44 y/o
Assistant Coach - Subtle Trix (Pegasus - Male) - 45 y/o
Goalkeeping Coach - Barrel Roll (Earth Pony - Female) - 40 y/o
Scout - Diamond Star (Unicorn - Female) - 56 y/o
Scout - Golden Hooves (Earth Pony - Female) - 67 y/o
Fitness Coach - Pinkheart (Earth Pony - Female) - 47 y/o

RP Permissions
My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: No, but permission may be granted if requested via TG/Discord
Godmod other events: Yes, but please contact me ahead of time if you want to do anything really unusual

[Graintfjall]

Different coaches respond in different ways to defeat. Some go away and refocus on core skills, setting out cones for dribbling drill and assigning colored bibs for tackling practice. Some decide physical conditioning is the missing ingredient and meet with nutritionists and dieticians, medical specialists and wild-eyed quacks, in search of that tiny extra edge. Some locate the problem not in the body, but the mind, and lead team-building exercises involving trust falls and building forts out of cardboard boxes and writing poems to one’s teenage self. Some decide that no amount of development will ever make up for the paucity of homegrown talent, so go out and scout the foreign leagues for someone they can quickly nationalize. Some decide it’s all too much and hit the bottle, or worse, the punditry circuit.

And then there’s Sopo Chacuzca…

Deep in the bowels of the new dedicated Knattspyrnusamband Græntfjalls training facility at the High Performance Center in Græntfjaller Multinesia, in a cluttered lab filled to the brim with beeping machines and churning banks of computer servers, as smokes of dayglo pink and lime green boil from twisted glass vessels, a 3 foot tall homunculus dressed in a tiny white lab coat wheels the latest batch up to Chacuzca, who is studying intensely the results of his work. He pushes his lab goggles up his forehead and announces, in thickly Tequiloan-accented Græntfjaller:

“Yes, my pretties, dance! Dance! DANCE! Muajajajajajaja…”

“With just a dash more tactical insight…”

“…and a sprinkle of clear vision…”

“…and never forgetting the importance of teamwork – yes, yes, it’s perfect! Muajajajajajaja! My creation! It’s… look, could you please stop doing that?”

Sara Kristoffersdóttir was in the corner of the lab, practising her keepy-uppies. Since leaving the Savojar league she’d be at something of a loose end, and had rocked up to her old mentor to see whether she would feature in his plans for the coming Under-21 Cup. She did not: too much of a loose cannon, he’d informed her.

Sara flipped the ball off the outside of her left boot, intending to bring it to a halt. But, after 1,093 consecutive keep-ups, she missed the last, the ball skewing off sideways and rolling into some shelves. The unit rocked, a huge boiling flask, clearly neglected for years as it was filmed in a thick layer of dust, came loose from its tube rack and rolled off. Sara, Sopo, and the homunculus all watched in wide-eyed horror as it came crashing down, directly into the maverick coach’s concoction. Immediately a thick red fog boiled up and filled the lab. “What have you done!?” gasped Sopo, choking, as he fell to floor…

[Graintfjall]

Team name: Græntfjall
Trigram: GRÆ [GRF when not available]
Demonym/adjective: Græntfjaller
Team nickname: Snow Pups

Coach: Sopo Chacuzca [TEQ] (44)
Assistant coach: Hugo Svanbergursson (46)

Sopo Chacuzca, bulldozing former midfielder for Tequilo’s army team, El Ejército, and former head coach with Coyotes, Irregulares Quetodino, and then Haïtiens, leading the latter out of the second division, was brought in to lead Græntfjall’s new under-21 team, in a country that had never previously had a dedicated youth structure. Armed with a surfeit midfielders, he fielded a maverick 2 – 7 – 1 formation – and nearly pulled it off. The Snow Pups lost 0 – 1 in the final to the far more orthodox San Ortelio, but Chacuzca had by then proven his “Futbol Ouroboros” system could work. Or rather – it could get the best out of the personnel he had, an unusually large crop of central midfielders.

This time, Chacuzca comes with just one such player, Sara Kristoffersdóttir. Græntfjall’s rather thin talent stocks lucked out in producing a glut of CMs 2 years ago, but this new generation offers rather thinner pickings. Therefore, Chacuzca has decided to invert his old system: instead of 7 central midfielders, just one. And around her, a “Hammer of Thor” formation with four defenders and five forwards, and a backup formation, in which two of the forwards drop back and the other three are substituted off for defensive midfielders, for a 4-5-1-0 “Valkyrie Shield Wall” formation. Naturally, this leaves all ball movement dependent on a single player, and puts relatively faith in the skills of the “BFGs” sent out to provide targets and defensive ballast.

Hugo Svanbergursson continues in his role as assistant coach, though it’s not entirely clear what he does.

Squad: A 23-person squad has been named for the tournament. Sara Kristoffersdóttir and Geirtryggur Levisson will definitely start; all other places are up for rotation.

• The Græntfjaller Premier League is gender-mixed and it is seen as uncontroversial for men and women to play alongside each other. If you find this unrealistic you are welcome to RP surprised reaction [although given the general state of NS Sports it would surely be not too much of an outlier] but it won’t be something we dwell on. -son surnames are men, -dóttir women, -bur gender-neutral (Ari is the first gender-neutral athlete to represent Græntfjall in international sport; their pronouns are they/them/their). Players without such names, such as Jasmijn, are Kamdyr, an independent nomadic people who call Græntfjall home.
• Youth football is not well developed in Græntfjall. Without a dedicated structure, most players play on reserve sides or are loaned to lower division teams; a couple have managed to play overseas.
• Græntfjaller players have high levels of athleticism and fitness. Most are also, by human standards, tall and strong.
• Timing note: I am RPing this as happening just after the Under-18 Cup (in which a few players participated). That means it is during the Græntfjaller winter: domestic players will not currently be playing, but those in overseas leagues might have to be withdrawn from domestic committments if they play in leagues that operate during the winter.

Goalkeepers

1. Geirtryggur Levisson
12. Farman Hallþórsson
18. Bjarkan Sigurmundsson

Defenders

2. Ótta Andersdóttir
3. Freysteinn Orrason
4. Jacopo Henriksson
5. Grímúlfur Gunnþórsson
15. Jasmijn Spiderlair
17. Gun-Britt Artúrsdóttir
20. Úranus Þorgeirsson
23. Ríkey Olgeirsdóttir

Defensive midfielders

6. Valtter Marvinsson
14. Kristmar Raknarsson
19. Wilhelm Hólmkelsson

Central midfielder

7. Sara Kristoffersdóttir (C)

Forwards

8. Hanna Nicosdóttir
9. Julia Wolfgangsdóttir
10. Emilia Hrafnþórsdóttir
11. Ari Hlynursbur
13. Lia Benediktsdóttir
16. Röskvi Tyrfingsson
21. Vanessa Marvinsdóttir
22. Elektra Nicosdóttir

Style modifier: +1
More defensive than last time given the added defenders. Still more attacking than the average team, though, given the overload up front.

RP permissions:

• Please do not have my players, staff, or fans engaging in violence without my permission. Please do not kill anyone.
• If you use non-photoshopped photographs, please don’t say they’re my players without asking.
• Otherwise, go nuts.

[Pasarga]

The Young Wanderers enter into the Eternal Empire looking to try and right what they consider a major wrong after their very surprising exit in the Round of Sixteen against Sarzonia in the last edition of the tournament. The Young Wanderers then had come into the competition having had some poor runs in the previous few editions but had looked fairly up for the competition in the group stage, grabbing a win and a pair of draws to be unbeaten and easily advancing out of the group. The tie against Sarzonia was seen as one that was slightly favorable, well as favorable as any knockout match in a youth tournament can be, and that with a bit of motivation they could have emerged with a victory from without too much fuss. Yet when the match was played out, the high powered offense of the Wanderers that had been averaging nearly three goals a game in the group stage completely were out of luck and were not able to post a single goal past Sarzonia and were thusly eliminated by the Atlantian Oceania side by a score of one to nothing, crushing the hopes that the team had of rekindling the once dominant force the Young Wanderers were in this competition.

That dream is now passed on to a new group of players that have arrived in Valanora, although there are a fair few of them that were part of the team that was here last edition. It is mostly on the defense and the strikeforce that the most changes were made, although the midfield did have a few as well, as Griffiths is looking to balance a mix of those who experience in this tournament and with some fresh blood and competition for places. Both Tani and CA Paulinthal give a lot of players to this mostly domestic based team, a trend that Grififths has continued in looking in the Pasargan Youth League before looking abroad for the teams that they have taken to the tournament. With the Stein-los and Paulinthal teams having some of the best academies both in the history and in modernity inside the dual islands, as well as their continued great performance both in the Youth Leagues as well as the Rising Stars' Cup, it comes as no big surprise to see many players hailing from those two sides. There is a fair mix of other teams represented as well, with the surprising inclusion of a striker from teams whose senior team is noted for its defensive prowess with Deco Kocsis having bagged many goals this past domestic season for the Duke of the North youth team.

The Wanderers have landed in Group B, which has their listed venues as the Raynor Memorial and The Pitch, meaning the Young Wanderers will be traveling by the countries' rail system between Hondo and Turbani, cities located on near opposite sides of the Vanorian mainland, meaning the team will be clocking quite a bit of travel miles. They start in The Pitch for the first game, travel to Hondo and the Raynor Memorial for the second game, and then back to Turbani and The Pitch for the group finale, they will be some very road weary warriors by the end of the two weeks that the group stage takes up, but should they have found a way to advance out of the group and into the knockout stages, I am sure they will find a way to deal with the travel accommodations that they have been handed. With a fairly deep squad this edition, there likely will also be some shuffling of the lineups in between games just to keep the eleven players that are on the pitch as fresh as possible, something that might become a key to winning the group and getting out of it.

Which brings us to the competition that the Young Wanderers will be facing this edition of the tournament. The first opponent will be Pemecutan, a side that the Young Wanderers do not have much history with personally but have had heard that they are a side that need to be taken seriously and not overlooked. As with any group stage, getting at least a draw is required for the team to really get off on the right foot, while a victory will be immensely helpful in keeping their streak of advancing to the knockouts intact. In the second match the team will be taking on a side whom the two seniors teams got quite familiar with in the last qualifiers with Tumbra. After a significant hiatus from the international game, the Tumbra team came back into the international scene as if they had hardly been out at all and we expect much the same with their youth team, and given it is on the second matchday it will probably be the most difficult of the games as that is the historic trend in this competition before the knockouts. Finishing off the group, the team will take on Geektopia in the last matchday, who have seemingly broken the rules of the competition and sent a team of individuals who are hundreds of years old. We don't know who or what they are or even if they are allowed to compete and can not fathom to comment on that fixture at this time, merely hoping the Young Wanderers will have their tickets already punched for the knockouts before that match is set to take place.

[Valanora]

Ladies and gentlemen come with me now, and shall we begin? Matchday 1 Cutoff

Group E
Kohnhead 0–0 Juvencus
Huelavia 1–1 Krytenia

Group F
Kriegiersien 4–4 TJUN-ia
Prinz-Eugens-Land 1–2 Eura

Group G
Farfadillis 0–2 Sylestone
Mytanija 4–0 Quebec

Group H
Island of the Lost 0–3 Kannap
Garbelia 1–0 Cassadaigua

[Prinz-Eugens-Land]

Prinz-Eugens-Land National U21 Football Team

Facts

Nation Name: Democratic Republic of Prinz-Eugens-Land
Short Names: Prinz-Eugens-Land
Demonyms: Prinz-Eugens-Lander
FA: Prinz-Eugens-Land Football Association (PELFA)
Colours: Green, white, gold, blue
Anthem: ‘Forwards through it all’
Capital City: Kapstadt
Other Major Cities: Saphirkirchen, Hollereuth, Neu-Marzig, Mpalena
Highest Domestic League: Landesliga
Nicknames: The Sapphire Tigers
Style Modifier: +1

Manager: Lorenz Traub

Lorenz Traub, the successful manager of the Einherjar youth team, has been chosen by PELFA to be manager for Prinz-Eugens-Land’s first foray into international football. “We’re here to see how we stack up, and to hopefully learn a thing or to from our opponents. It should be a fun tournament,” said Traub at the press conference announcing the team. Football is the most popular sport by a long way in Prinz-Eugens-Land, but the nation had stayed out of international competition for the longest time. There has been much debate, with the recent success of Siovanija & Teusland on the world stage, regarding if the team should participate. So, the youth team’s foray into the world stage should be interesting to follow for those back home. Traub favours a 4-2-3-1, and is slightly balanced in favour of more attacking football.

23-man squad

Goalkeepers

GK -- Sicelo Mtoto -- #1 -- 20y/o -- Imasi Sportklub
GK -- Christof Niebur -- #22 -- 20y/o -- Speerspitzen Hollereuth
GK -- Oduir Ogolo -- #23 -- 19y/o -- SV Lukoshi

Left Backs

LB -- Alois Dedekind -- #3 -- 21y/o -- Einherjar
LB -- Joab Sialo -- #13 -- 18y/o -- Imasi Sportklub

Centre Backs

CB -- August Lischke -- #4 -- 20y/o -- Asgardia Kapstadt
CB -- Heinrich Kohring -- #5 -- 20y/o -- Speerspitzen Hollereuth
CB -- Lwazi Botile -- #14 -- 19y/o -- SV Ithemba
CB -- Valle Traub -- #15 -- 17y/o -- SV Neu-Marzig

Right Backs

RB -- Ludwig Diksana -- #2 -- 20y/o -- Wikinger Walhalla
RB -- Timo Pichler -- #12 -- 19y/o -- Einherjar

Centre Midfield

CM -- Ndothosile Mqala -- #6 -- 20y/o -- Imasi Sportklub
CM -- Nils Eugster -- #8 -- 20y/o -- Walkure Walhalla
CM -- Otieno Abero -- #16 -- 20y/o -- Imasi Sportklub

Left Wing

LW -- Silvio Scherler -- #7 -- 20y/o -- Asgardia Kapstadt
LW -- Okello Rao -- #17 -- 19y/o -- SV Ithemba

Centre Attacking Midfield

CAM -- Gustav Visscher -- #10 -- 20y/o -- Einherjar
CAM -- Eckhart Julu -- #20 -- 19y/o -- Mpalena Sport

Right Wing

RW -- Vuyani Sikali -- #11 -- 19y/o -- Einherjar
RW -- Erwin Bronstein -- #21 -- 20y/o -- SV Neu-Marzig

Centre Forward

CF -- Buzwe Yawa -- #9 -- 20y/o -- Imasi Sportklub
CF -- Marcel Assing -- #18 -- 19y/o -- Einherjar
CF -- Gottdanke Sontonga -- #19 -- 16y/o -- Wikinger

Starting XI: Mtoto; Dedekind, Lischke, Kohring, Diksana; Mqala, Eugster; Scherler, Visscher, Sikali; Yawa

Set Pieces:

Free Kicks: Vuyani Sikali, Gustav Visscher
Penalties: Buzwe Yawa, Vuyani Sikali, Gustav Visscher, Silvio Scherler, Ndothosile Mqala

Captains

Captain: Ndothosile Mqala
Vice Captain: August Lischke

Kits

The home kit will be light-green with a white stripe down the middle, white shorts, and light-green socks. The away kit will be blue with light-green shorts and blue socks, while the third kit will be pure white with one light green and one blue stripe. Goalkeeper kits will be black.

RP Permissions

Choose my goalscorers: Y
Choose Scoring Events: Y
Godmod Scoring Events: N
RP injuries to my players: Y, I determine length/severity
Godmod injuries to my players: N
Hand out Yellow cards to my players: Y
Hand out Red cards to my players: Y
Godmod Other Events: N (TG me if you want to discuss something, however)

Schedule

Matchday 1: vs Eura
Matchday 2: vs Kriegiersien
Matchday 3: vs TJUN-ia

We’ll continue to bring coverage from Valanora as the Sapphire Tigers take on the world for the very first time! The nation will be eager to find out how we stack up, and the team are sure to enjoy great support from the travelling supporters eager to see their country play international football for the first time.

[Eura]

EURAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
Eura Under 21’s – Di Bradini Cup 50 Squad

Management and coaching staff

Manager: Bob Partridge (57, Eura)
Steve Norman’s dismissal as U21 manager followed Lee Sharp and Tom Riley’s respective departures. Norman is the latest in a long line of Euran U21 managers who have found themselves relatively under resourced and frequently forgotten about when the Di Bradini Cup comes around. But following Eura’s failure to qualify for the 87th World Cup, and the soul searching it prompted at the EFA, taking international football seriously at this level is back on the agenda in Eura. This has been reinforced by the appointment of 57-year-old Bob Partridge, former long-time manager and club hero of Oakstone, who most recently managed Ituraitz FC in Astograth for four years. Partridge rejected offers from prominent clubs to take up this role, partly out of a sense of national duty, and partly because the EFA have made it clear that they want the revitalisation of the Euran national team to be underpinned by a serious youth effort.

Assistant Manager: Reggie Wright (55, Eura)
Partridge’s muse and close friend stood with him in the dugout at the Oak House for many years. When Partridge left for Astograth, Wright also left the club, but did not follow his colleague. Instead he took up consulting roles with several teams in the Euraleague pyramid, and has now taken up the assistant role for the Eura Under 21’s side, reigniting the renowned partnership once more.

Head Coach: Nathan Wall (36, Eura)
An Oakstone stalwart who retired after Euraleague Season 45, Wall was a key figure in the dressing room during Partridge’s reign as manager there. He’s a traditional “hard bloke” and not much else on the face of it, but perhaps possesses further depth under the surface. It would explain why Wall has been able to pass his coaching badges quickly and with flying colours, and why Partridge has felt comfortable bringing him into such a key role with so little experience.

Chief Physio: Brandon Mead (47, Eura)
Mead is the former chief physio of several Gold and Silver League clubs and has now decided to join this new management team to broaden his experience and help his country achieve its footballing goals.

Chief Selector: Neil Stephens (45, Eura)
An exciting new appointment, Stephens is the man often credited with the enormous success of transfer policy and scouting at Directus in recent years, having served as their Director of Football and played an instrumental role in the signing of players such as Rowena Strongbow and Mikhail Jashkin.

Styles and Permission

Style Modifier: +2

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:

Choose my goalscorers – YES
Godmod scoring events – YES
RP injuries to my players – YES
Godmod injuries to my players – YES (But only how the injury happens, not the extent of the injury)
Hand out yellow cards to my players – YES
Hand out red cards to my players – YES
Godmod other events – YES, provided you keep events within the realms of realism, so no deaths etc.

Please note that I am not participating in or recognising any kind of pandemic themed RP at this time. You are welcome to RP a pandemic impacting your own country or national team as you wish, but please do not extend this to my team or country.

Squad
Ages matched to Euraleague Season 47. Club info may not be up to date.

Goalkeepers

1. Tom Hammond – GK – 20 – Directus
13. Holly Whitehouse – GK – 21 – Holdenberg City

Defenders

2. Patrick Read – RB – 21 – Bombarralense (Audioslavia)
3. Robert Freeman – LB – 21 – Bastion
4. Jack Bedford – CB – 21 – Revolutionaries
5. Kevin Sherwood – CB – 21 – Carsby
15. Silas Duff – CB – 21 – Lajuno
19. Morgan Hart – CB – 21 – Farrenton Athletic
21. Ana Mason – RWB – 21 – Unioneers
23. Alfie Wright – LB – 19 – Mountainside

Midfielders

6. Flora Brown – CM – 21 – Hornchurch
7. Ben West – AM – 20 – Falourr
8. Oscar Vincent – CM – 21 – Bastion Lions
11. Robert Marshall – AM – 21 – Oakstone
12. Ethan Douglas – RW/LW – 19 – Bastion
16. Summer Johnstone – CM – 21 – Brigham
18. Ed Clarke – CM/CAM – 21 – Unioneers
20. Owen James – RW/LW – 19 – Carsby
22. Josh Bradshaw – CAM – 19 – Lajuno
24. Laura Holland – CM – 21 – Ulsa
25. Sophie Singh – AM/ST – 19 – Honeybadgers

Strikers

9. Travis Vivier – LW/ST – 21 – Holdenberg
10. Alex Sharp – ST – 19 – 1830 Cathair (Audioslavia)
14. Kate Archer – ST – 20 – Spartangrad
17. Charles Barber – CF – 20 – Unioneers

Preferred starting lineup

GK – 1. T Hammond
RB – 2. P Read
RCB – 4. J Bedford
LCB – 5. K Sherwood
LB – 3. R Freeman
RM – 7. B West
RCM – 6. F Brown
LCM – 8. O Vincent
LM – 11. R Marshall
RS – 10. A Sharp
LS – 9. T Vivier

Player Roles

Squad Captain: Kevin Sherwood
Vice-Captain: Flora Brown
Direct free kicks: Ben West (Either foot)
Indirect free kicks: Flora Brown (Right foot), Oscar Vincent (Left foot)
Right corner: Ben West (Either foot)
Left corner: Robert Marshall (Either foot)

Kits

[Farfadillis]

Group A
Sarzonia 0–4 Equestria
Chromatika 5–1 Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom

Group B
Geektopia 2–3 Tumbra
Pemecutan 3–3 Pasarga

Group C
Vilita and Turori 1–4 San Ortelio
Delaclava 2–3 Baker Park

Group D
Darmen 2–2 New Old Forest
Pratapgadh 0–1 Graintfjall

[Geektopia]

Geeks thwarted once off of a build-up error for Tumbran winner ττ Published by Leiceister

It is me Leiceister and the Geektopian national team has brought bad news on their first day in the Di Bradini Cup, I'm just gonna have to dish it out and not cry at the same time. Gawrsh, this team is so far removed from our former glory, it'll be concerning how much shorter this youth intake will come up in matches against third and first seeds. I'd bet a shiny shekel that one of our best youth athletes this precycle will set a new record on time between when they've started and been subbed off in an international game, and I'm saying this one doesn't count - these aren't real international games, they're pseudo-contests, not real bouts of football. Many of you native readers and followers may not have known this about me, but if you pay attention to the previous coverage and game reviews that were put out with me producing these articles and all, I always nip and jab at a mistake that these starters make on the pitch, some of the less educated might be asking me through your monitor, phone, TV screen, well that's if you can access the Compass web browser on your TV screen and get to this site, it's a very rare design these days. Point being, you might be asking me why I nip and jab at these youth talents, and why I'm so adamant to. After all, they're young bucks, they can read over words without making one or two character typographical errors, and you'd think this generation could play better ball as well. Well, it's specifically why I call this pseudo-football, it doesn't showcase the beauty of the game if you call some of these under-2000's up too early and let them make their own decisions on the pitch, more so off the pitch. So I was done with writing a letter (shocking, geeks don't find time to write letters!) of proposal to the higher-ups of the GFA expressing my ideas about adjusting schedule to let training have more weight on the scale as opposed to game time. Suffice to say, I'm confident that the letter hasn't been ignored by these higher-ups, else they simply wouldn't be qualified for my time! Besides, I addressed some critical points about how much cardiovascular exercise is shunned in these players' lives, it's as restricted and regimented as sumo for chrissakes, except this administration thinks that if one caps for the Greens, they're a body maintenance machine and can lose one hundred and twenty pounds in two months without the cycling! This whole mess happened by Dingledine's hand, he must've dropped off a suggestion to the administration's higher-ups after that post-Kelssek pep talk in which he totaled in his squad's BMI, that's why the entirety of our group came out the door and were replaced in WCQ87 by slimmer, more athletically capable, shredded athletes that could perform a rainbow flick in as early as ten training sessions as well as eat caramel candies for the rest of their lifespans and still benchpress one hundred more pounds than the average Geektopian, no, person! Gawrsh, Dingledine is such a genius, but at the same time he's just so sleazy in the way he does things, I'm thinking the guy's a mad scientist and is cloning Loui, who was our complete forward at the time he retired! This youth team, these are just the betas, they'll get patched up soon come eighty-eight.

No, but seriously, I've had my time to rant. Let's get to the fixture versus Tumbra, we were looking to make a great start in Group Two or B, what have you. So the general public gets to see live footage of our players getting amped up in the dressing room, and one of them, get this: accidentally spills coffee on themselves. For me it was on them, who'd try to get through a pre-game ritual drinking caffeine when you're already leaking testosterone?

Oh kay, so the match is underway and one of our regular starters Mex makes the bad mistake of being out of position in the twentieth minute, he thinks he's so fucking macho trying to pull Jack Reed's pants down and make a grandiose run to the other side of goal off of a simple dispossession, he stations right next to the Tumbran and gets nutmegged from a rather clever flick that took the ball and made it bounce off of the corner flag. So now we have a problem, Hylla sees to that problem and shuts it down with the substitution of Burgermeister for Mex after this ambitious move from Tumbra. Jack Reed, though, has already got the dip right on a cross that was so good, it had Jesus nailed onto it at one point. This goes to Thomas Krabb's head in both ways, and he's got his effort on the board from twenty minutes and forty five seconds. The goalkeeper is keeping himself up with one arm in the center of his goal like an Olympic sprinter just before the gunshot, when he should have guarded that attack from his near post.

Good news is that not long after, we get one on the end of Stillinger's effort after a pristine pass from our sixty three Lazzari in a seven versus three position. Laz was covered by four of the slimy Tuna Brains including one Thomas Krabb, and still managed to find out the goalscorer's position in a fortuitous game of hide and seek (fortuitous meaning happening in our favor). Two took place in quick succession for the Junior Eagles side, padded by three minutes of hopelessly giving the ball away. This throwing away of possession would be a prerequisite to one of the more shocking goals in this group. As Melko was initiating the fifth step of our Attacking Pass Formation out of nine, Chris Tipple burst through an open channel and made Geektopia aware of their unnoticed wound by scoring but the shock value for me doesn't come in the awful build-up play, but through the way it was lifted up from this guy's foot, back reared away from the goalkeeper, and turned into a bicycle kick out of nothing, soaring past Cristoforo at ten yards.

Two minutes after kick-off, then another, this time from a set piece to do the damage. John Rouse, who was an off-the-bench addition for Tumbra from fifty minutes on for Neil Crozier was taking this corner. As soon as it was a sure headed goal by Thomas Krabb, this effort came just clear of the post, where Nick Riordan was ever lurking to tap the ball in from a volley.

Seventy nine minutes past, and the Green Riverbed was out of carefully constructed ideas, and they had completely failed to memorize their Attacking Pass Formation that they and their manager went over carefully pre-match. One throw-in from Altiery near the edge of the final third would land at Nyren's feet. He had clear space in front of him to make a ground pass for the goal coming out of Burgermeister but for whatever reason chose to carry this through the air, where Burgermeister would precisely arch his body from nine yards and chalk up a half-volley that looked flat but went flying by David Ager.

It makes for some disappointing but entertaining footy from the Greens that rival Savojars can snicker and be captivated at. Another neutral stadium awaits Geektopia versus a recent opponent in the nation's gridiron world championship campaign, Pemecutan, and predicted to start over regulars Nyren and Mex in this game are Trautwein and Burgermeister respectively.

[Tumbra]

Geektopia 2-3 Tumbra

(4-3-3): 1 - Ager; 2 - Ganley, 4 - Krabb, 5 - Hussein (20 - Turnbull, 64'), 3 - Crozier - inj, (18; Rouse, 50'); 6 - Kearney (23 - McCormick, 64'), 8 - Tipple, 10 - Dunstan; 7 - Reed, 9 - Kinzinger; 11 - Riordan

Scorers: Krabb (20'), Tipple (60'), Riordan (66')

Player of the Match: Thomas Krabb

TUMBRA'S campaign in the 50th Di Bradini Cup got off to a nervy, if ultimately successful start earlier today, with the Junior Eagles seeing off Geektopia to get off to a good start at the top of the group. A defensive error from Geektopian player Mex, who was playing on the right wing - though the tactical unorthodoxness of the Geektopians, owing to their 3-3-3 formation (with a tenth player ambling about the pitch), leading to Jack Reed dispossessing the forward, sending in a cross for Tumbra's first goal of the tournament, off defender Thomas Krabb's head. The rest of the half would prove to provide some good football, with opportunities on both sides, yet the Black Eagles were unable to extend their advantage.

In the second half, however, Geektopia got one back through Lazzari, but the Junior Eagles would go 2-1 ahead through Chris Tipple taking advantage of another defensive error from the Geektopians who were left standing as Tipple finished through a magnificient bicycle kick that would dumbfound the opposition and put the Junior Eagles ahead. A second soon followed, with John Rouse sending in a corner which resulted in Nick Riordan sending in the volley, making it a third goal for the Junior Eagles.

The Geektopians got one back from Burgermeister, but it proved to be too little, too late for them, and the match ended in the Tumbrans' favour.

The Black Eagles travel next to Hondo, where they will play Pasarga at the Raynor Memorial - a throwback to the 87th World Cup qualifiers, where the Tumbrans famously snatched a point from the senior Wanderers team to deny them a win.

[Garbelia]

Young Otters shock Cassadaigua

Garbelia 1 - 0 Cassadaigua
5 HUGE CHANCE! Ote Vydra manages to squeeze through the defence, but her shot is blocked by Unknown.
- Half Time ~ 0-0 -
45 SUBSTITUTION: Opspore Kawauso on for Konfiti Ota
45 SUBSTITUTION: Unknown on for Unknown
56 YELLOW CARD! The referee gives a soft free kick to Cassadaigua, and a yellow card to Fet Ezoud.
56 WHAT A SAVE! Loutre Avia makes a stunning save against Unknown's free kick.
80 SUBSTITUTION: Otter McOtter on for Fet Ezoud
83 YELLOW CARD! Unknown takes a swing at Steorian Barnes as the striker looked to be free on goal.
83 GOAL! Ote Vydra heads home a curling cross from the free kick by Opspore Kawauso. Scored in bottom left corner.
90 INJURY TIME! 3 minutes added on.
- Full Time ~ 1 - 0 -

Player Ratings for Garbelia:
9/10 Opspore Kawauso, Ote Vydra
8/10 Loutre Avia, Lutra Vydra, Nutria Huron
7/10 Udar Otti, Steorian Barnes, Otterata Otto
6/10 Fet Ezoud, Otter McOtter, L'utra Zeeotter, Konfiti Ota, Vid Otterra

Player of the match: Ote Vydra

Garbelia's young defenders stood strong in a solid 1-0 victory against the strong favourites to advance from the group, Cassadaigua. Miao Otterdottir also showed why she is one of the candidates tipped to be the next manager of the Garbelery first team, with the Young Otters' elders in a poor run of form, also bringing speculation of a mass youth promotion ahead of the World Cup 88.

Schedule:
MD 1: Garbelia 1 - 0 Cassadaigua W, Garbelia second in the group
MD 2: Island of the Lost V Garbelia
MD3: Garbelia V Kannap

[San Ortelio]

”The clock is ticking against the Eel Cat Things and they’re trying to… Well it is not one hundred percent clear what options they’ve got left. Loala Inkabu was subbed in for Sebapilo and immediately positioned himself in the box but it must be said that Gioia and Cattai manage to keep the crosses away from the goal so far. Stellar performance from that duo against an opponent that now must opt for increasingly convoluted ploys to plow their way through the Ortelian defensive wall. After the 1-3, Ricci dropped all pretenses, ordering his players to shuffle backwards and adding Luca Signorelli to the side… Well, it doesn’t look exciting anymore but that’s not the point.

Speaking of the point, if the Viliturorans want to grab one of those, they’ll need to do something with the added time around the corner. Trezisi Rokopolis, he wants to lead by example but oh my, Quintarelli is having none of his dribbles… An efficient steal and immediately pounded forward by the captain! Cotillard. Cotillard… Cotillard outsprinting Dzzara! Yes, it’s one on one and oooh! What a cold-blooded chip from Angelo Cotillard, he leaves Derizi Amatopa scrambling as the leather slowly rolls in. One goal against four, what a flying start for the Young Swordfishes!”

Turmondale Grounds was the largest stadium I had ever set foot in and right now, as I slid on my knees to the corner flag, it seemed as if the whole stadium was cheering me on. The Raynor City audience clearly had it in for what was – despite the success two year – still the plucky underdog in this match-up. Especially after the athletic opener from Dennis Spaviero, a sort of half volley which rattled the nets stylishly, they had gotten behind us and now… Now everything seemed a sea of light blue.

Just as that hit my mind, half a dozen of teammates hit me literally. They floored me but I didn’t care – everything was perfect in the moment. There had been some pressure from the press, claiming that this ‘class’ lacked the ‘class’ but this opener had released us all. Even Attilio, who had made a point after each goal to tell us to Keep our heads in it, boys as if he was a decade our senior couldn’t be arsed anymore and cheered: we had won the opener and that was a fact. After the game, there would be analysis and the realization that we had not been necessarily much better than Vilita & Turori, as the result might lead you to believe, maybe just a pinch more efficient. But for the remaining few minutes, it all felt like a satisfying trance.

There was running and passing, and Carlo whacked the ball into space one more time, but I just missed it all. It happened on the same pitch as I was on, I believe. But my head was still in the overwhelming feeling of tens of thousands of people all celebrating that one moment, your first international goal, with you.

The final whistle.

I missed that as well, actually, and it wasn’t but when Luca Cadili jumped on my back, tooting an imaginary horn and shouting ”Hoot, hoot! All aboard the Angelo train, next stop the knock-out rounds!” that I snapped back. Whilst the Eel Cat Things politely shook the hand of the referee before disappearing into the catacombs, we some sort of naturally started a lap of honor, leading us to the furthest corner flag. Most of the few hundred Ortelians who had made the trip and bought a ticket, usually friends and family, had gathered in that part of the stadium.

It took me a second until I spotted them, Ernesto, Philippe and Hong – my long-time friends were as jubilant as everyone and pushed and shoved just enough so I could greet them at the barrier.

“It happened!”
“You did it! You did it, mate!”
“F’ing huuuge, great job!”

It wasn’t the time for deep conversation. As Attilio tried to gather us again for some group photos, maybe a clap for the audience or some back-and-forth chanting, Philippe pushed his flag in my hands.

“Here!”

The Ortelian blue-white flag, but with the tricolored Taegeuk in the middle, looked familiar, looked like home. My father, René Cotillard, had always made a point of having one of those waving in the front yard. As a young kid, I hated him for it. It sometimes got vandalized and I didn’t understand his desire to make us stand out in our neighborhood. It was hard enough growing up as a mixed-race boy in the residential part of Montelcampo, let alone that he needed to announce that to the world.

”It is a sign of our gratitude, boy. Our gratitude to this place but also to our Quebecois parents, grandparents and ancestors.”

And then he would start talking, again, about the family history, how they left for greener pastures to San Ortelio. Again.

Right now, I would have paid everything I’ve got to hear him tell that story one more time to me.

And so, I held the Taegeuk flag high and proud to every photographer. If only he could have seen me here.

“Here, have an Ortelian flag,” Alex said as he grabbed me for a snap together.
“No, no, it’s an Ortelian one,” I explained. I didn’t really register his comment. Scratch that, I didn’t really want to register his comment.

As with any explosion of euphoria, it eventually had to die down – one can only be out of himself for that much of time. We waved to the fans one more time and my eyes tried to find Philippe, wanting to return his flag. But he had been pushed back to his spot a few rows higher and signaled to me to keep it. For your next goal, he mouthed and I laughed. In theory, Dennis and Pier Luigi were the starters but I had shown my value today – if I hadn’t been an option yet for Ricci, I definitely was now.

And so we walked back, still unwinding after what had been a glorious moment.

“I wouldn’t do that,” someone said next to me, “unless you’ll hold onto it.”

I looked aside. Nkechi. A tall presence, muscled yet calming in a strange way, aided by his low voice.

“What do you mean?”
“The flag,” Nkechi pointed, “I wouldn’t do that.”

I halted for a second, perplexed.

“That’s strange coming out of the mouth of the guy who kisses his machete tattoo after each goal.”

It always left me with a bit of controverse. After all, the Kitaran machete… It’s not the same. Right? That’s what dad said as well – the Taegeuk unites whilst the machete… Look, I too am proud of my heritage but the machete is more… Provocative? There’s no movement of Quebecois who want to secede a part of our small country so… No? It all felt far more confusing now than when dad explained it.

“Cause the Taegeuk unites, blahblahblah,” Nkechi spoke as if he read my mind.
“There’s no reason to mock the-“ I started, getting annoyed with his attitude. He always seemed distant, away from the group as if he wanted to be an outsider.
“I’m not mocking it, Angelo. But it’s not because the Quebecois are the cuddlier migrants that they aren’t migrants for… For some of them.”

He made a gesture which could’ve been just in space, pointing to a growing part of our national community. Or it could’ve been towards Carlo and Alex, who strolled a few metres ahead of us, in particular.

“With stuff like that, you’re also one of the others at the end of the day,” Nkechi continued. He was staring straight ahead now – was he even talking to me.
“If you feel like that, why the tattoo,” Angelo asked hesitantly.
“Cause I can’t throw away my arm when I’m in doubt,” Nkechi replied flatly. “And they can’t take it away either.”

With those words, he entered the tunnel away from the pitch, leaving me behind with my flag clamped in both hands. Which doubt? OK, Angelo the little boy wanted to be just like everyone else but here I stand, a grown man. An Ortelian of Quebecois descent and proud of it. What was wrong with that?

Still, the edge of the victory had disappeared faster than hoped for.

[TJUN-ia]

By Peter Davis

Hello and welcome to Ianisle where, over the next few days, TJUN-ian youth football shall return for the 50th edition of the Di Bradini Cup! It's time for our 3rd appearance in this competition and time once again for Philip van Oosterend to show off the stars of tomorrow here in the sunlight of Valanora. Once again, 3 games will determine whether or not we play more games in this competition and after making the playoffs last time despite a not-great record, many were wondering how this ageing crew could do this time in what was definitely the end of an era for TJUN-ian youth football.

Up first here at Lathal was Kriegiersien, a young team that included many players the senior team faced at IAC12 just recently. So we came into this one with some expectations on how they would play, but the final result would certainly come from out of nowhere to many in the footballing circles. This game would be the footballing definition of a barn burner, a game where attacking was everything and defending was practically non-existent. The first half would start off very quickly, as both Malhrani al-Kalhrani and Eetu Peerson would make this game 1-1 after only 10 minutes. After that chaotic start, TJUN-ia would take the lead again through Yomakaji Shimigatsu in the 34th minute but Miguel Owomoyela would tie things up once again in the 42nd, meaning we entered halftime at 2-2 already. The seconds half would start as if TJUN-ia had actually found some semblance of control in this fixture, with substitute Kelo Ngwemanagawa getting a brace on his own accord (61st and 67th), but Riso Becker's side fought hard to get back into this contest and two late goals by Groninger Koek (81st and 87th) meant that, after all the chaos of this fixture, both teams had to settle for a 4-4 scoreline and a point each.

Some good and some bad from this one and you can bet PvO will have a lot to work with in preparation for the next contest. That one will be against a god of the sport in Eura, who won their opening game 2-1 over Prinz-Eugens-Land and this one will certainly be big in the battle for a spot in the top 2. GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group F)
MD1: vs Kriegiersien - Lathal, Ianisle D 4-4 (T-2nd)
MD2: vs Eura - Lathal, Ianisle
MD3: vs Prinz-Eugens-Land - Lathal, Ianisle

[Mytanija]

MBALA-EKAKIA AND KOVACEVIC TURN DEFENCE INTO ATTACK
FOUR OF THE BEST FROM MYTANIJA TO SEE OFF QUEBEC

by Nevenka Planinc

MYTANIJA 4-0 QUEBEC
MYT: Kovacevic 26’, Mbala-Ekakia 56’, Gannot 68’, Dresevic 88’
QUE: none

MYT: 1. Besak; 2. Bajalica, 3. Mbala-Ekakia, 4. Kovacevic, 5. Spiridonovic; 6. Kurtcehajic (sub. Radosevic 60’), 7. Ocokoljic, 8. Hjik (sub. Dresevic 71’); 10. Gvetadze; 9. Gannot (c) (sub. Alagic 71’), 11. Prinelec

QUE: 21. Middleton (c); 2. Rohrmayer, 3. Kim, 20. An, 6. Miller; 8. Babin (sub. Bong 62’), 13. Tannenbaum (sub. Morin-Antonoff 62’); 11. Kweon, 9. Woodcarver, 10. Hong (sub. Hertel 69’), 7. Langlois-Zuluka

Adem Fejzic had his central defenders to thank for getting Mytanija’s 4-0 win over Quebec underway at Caddo Park. The pair were dangerous throughout the match from set-pieces, their towering frames causing the Quebecois defence problems and creating several panicky moments. Amar Kovacevic powered Alen Gvetadze’s whipped free-kick into the net with his head to break the deadlock before Mbala-Ekakia fired in the team’s second with a finish which would have made even the very best striker blush. Kovacevic was once again present, heading the ball into Cedrick Rohrmayer from Gvetadze’s corner and the left-back could only swing a leg at the ball as he fell, failing to fully clear it. Mbala-Ekakia reacted quickest, swivelling on a dime to drive the ball low into the bottom corner beyond the frozen Sandra Middleton.

It was a crucial pair of goals from Mytanija’s centre-backs which got the team ahead just when the midfield and forwards were misfiring a little. Damien Gannot and Lazar Prinelec are familiar with one another – having played together during the last DBC – but Alen Gvetadze was pretty anonymous during the first-half except for his excellent set-piece deliveries and the midfield trio of Kurtcehajic, Dusko Ocokoljic and Neven Hjik were not quite gelling as Adem Fejzic would have wanted them to. The on-field relationship between the three will hopefully come with more time spent on the pitch together, but Quebec managed to frustrate the team for much of the first hour. Fortunately for Fejzic he had his central defenders on-hand to finish off opportunities.

Quebec’s defence often blunted the Mytanar attack for much of the first hour or so, but they also struggled to create much of their own despite the offensive intent of Tahmid James’ 4-2-4 formation. Mytanija retained possession really well and as Quebec’s front four were aggressive in remaining high up the pitch Adem Fejzic kept the handbrake on a little at times, with Mytanija’s full-backs not marauding up the wings as much as they usually might. Zijad Kurtcehajic was dutiful in patrolling the centre of the pitch too, often snuffing out Quebecois counter-attacks at the source and not allowing dangerous situations to escalate. Vuk Bajalica acquitted himself impressively against the potential superstar Basile Langlois-Zuluka, the Busembe Timberwolves right-winger often found himself up against a brick wall each time he tried to dribble past Bajalica.

Mytanija may not have been at their creative best for the first hour or so, but it was a controlled performance which demonstrated the game-winning nous which is needed if they want to go far into the knockout stages of this tournament. Fejzic has often been criticised domestically for being a little gung-ho, shoring up the Atletik defence was something which always seemed beyond him and arguably lost him his job. Here there were no signs of that defensive frailty though – particularly against counter-attacks – as Mytanija kept possession and were relatively risk-free. It was an attritional performance for much of that first hour, with Quebec determined to punish any errors Mytanija made and Mytanija even more determined to ensure there wouldn’t be any. Set-plays became a matter of the utmost importance and Mytanija seized their opportunities well, with Kovacevic serving a reminder of his much-vaunted aerial ability and Mbala-Ekakia showing why he was played further up the pitch during his younger years.

The game became more stretched after the second goal went in as Quebec recognised they would have to be more forceful when on the attack and this created spaces and opportunities for Mytanija to exploit. Adem Fejzic wasn’t moved from his plan though, bringing the more defensive Svetoslav Radosevic on for Zijad Kurtcehajic once the second goal had gone in to give the vice-captain some rest and to signal to his players that they were not to go chasing extra goals. Radosevic’s defensive skills provided the base from which to finish off the game and the extra goals came naturally with that. Mytanija’s third came from Radosevic dispossessing the excellently named Quebecois substitute Medea Morin-Antonoff and then setting Alen Gvetadze off on a mazy run. Gvetadze slipped Damien Gannot in and the Atletik striker did the rest, getting his 9th DBC goal in only his 6th appearance at the competition.

Fejzic had seen enough from Gannot after that, allowing the new 1896 Ebor striker Dragisa Alagic his first minutes for the Mytanar under-21s in his first venture into international football. It is a big step up for a player who was playing Druga Liga football as recently as last season. He didn’t look too uncomfortable here though, creating a couple of chances and going close himself with a nice half-volley from the edge of the penalty area. Pierre Dresevic entered the fray alongside him and he finished off the goal-scoring just over two minutes from the end of regulation time with a curled effort from around twenty yards out. A beautiful strike from the Douanes playmaker and perfectly suited to capping off what was a fine all-around performance from Mytanija, even if it was never the most exhilarating football. Those back home who would pick holes in this performance because it wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing victory would do well to remember the emphatic final score and the fact that Quebec are one of the finest footballing nations around at the moment, ranked 33rd in the multiverse. To score four goals is a real testament to the direction Mytanar football is headed in and is hopefully a sign of things to come as the FSM looks to re-build our international standing in football in much the same way as the MOF has in volleyball.

Next up is a tough assignment against Farfadillis, a country whose senior team are ranked 4th in the multiverse and on paper and even harder task than Quebec. They tasted defeat in their opener against Sylestone and will therefore be needing a result against Mytanija. Adem Fejzic is expected to rotate some players, though given their mixture of experience playing at this level and fantastic performances in the opening game you would think that the likes of Gannot, Prinelec, Mbala-Ekakia and Kovacevic will be untouchable. The same could be said for the goalkeeper and full-backs too. Changes may come in the number ten role due to Gvetadze being largely ineffective except for his set-plays, but that could be a great reason for him to retain his place given the two goals which came from them against Quebec. Pasha Secujac or Olivier Golodkovsky could well come in for Gvetadze, with the number ten position being one where there was some confusion over who was the starter ahead of the tournament. Pierre Dresevic will also be challenging for a starting role following his strong cameo off the bench in the group opener, likely coming in for either Dusko Ocokoljic or Neven Hjik.

[Kriegiersien]

The Schoenwetter Herald

Sport – Football


Di Bradini Cup 50

Kriegiersien 4–4 TJUN-ia

After losing the semi-final of the RTC against Tumbra in Overtime, the team hasted per Airplane and train to Lathal to face TJUN-ia.
They already had played against each other at the IAC, but Kriegiersien had been represented by a team of fans and staff members, as the players boycotted the last needless game of the group stage and lost to the A-Team of TJUN-ia.
Now both teams met head to head and after a brutal clash the game ended with a draw.

“We will try now to secure at least the third place at the U18 World Cup in Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom and then we finally can concentrate on the Di Bradini Cup”, said Captain and Goalkeeper Lopera.

[Krytenia]

One HUE Or Anjuver
By Rami Niblick in Char Sara, Valanora

MATCHDAY One. It's the bane of Krytenian national teams in recent tournaments. Of course, on this occasion we'll give them a pass, given the extreme closeness of the three sides in the group. With Juvencus and Kohnhead also drawing, the group largely remains in a holding pattern going into Matchday Two.

Krytenia gave a good account of themselves throughout the match. Ciaran Rafferty may have been the one to get on the scoresheet - his angled drive putting the Dragons in front in the first half - but Krytenia created plenty of chances aside from that. Fraser Young was unlucky not to score with a shot deflected wide by Laura Ezra, Andrew Asprilla's on the ball skills made headaches for the HUElavian midfield, and the ammunition provided by Alex Zigic and Graham Stone gave Samuel di Donato problems all day.

HUElavia, to their credit, were no slouches either. Michael Sveyn made a string of good saves, Hisako Mizuno was the fulcrum of the HUElavian attack, and Eli Molinari and Arthur Cross were given the runaround in phases as well. The equaliser was a well-worked passing move, culminating in Pierrette Girault slotting the ball past Sveyn to secure a point. Both sides will feel a point is a fair assessment; by the same token, both will also be lamenting the fact that they couldn't secure the full three.

Next up for Krytenia are Juvencus. A win for either side will bring them on the verge of a spot in the last sixteen; defeat could mean the end of the road. Let's hope that Gary Barton can keep the side disciplined and secue the win for the Dragons. Onward!

KRYTENIA - 1
Rafferty 37

HUELAVIA - 1
Girault 64

[Pasarga]

Nothing that is worth it ever comes easy and that will be the general feeling in the Young Wanderers camp after the opening matchday saw the team not able to come away with a much needed victory, but instead were the victims of a late equalizer that forced a draw and sharing of the points between themselves and Pemecutan. Three goals allowed is very worrisome for the team, given that they have been worker hard over the last few years to shore up the defenses and emphasize defensive position and tracking back in training, with most of the defensive players for this side having had stellar campaigns domestically. Perhaps it is the uneasiness of going from playing against one another in the week in, week out situation of the domestic league to then having to be part of the same team and defensive unit that comes with the national team, only allowed two to three weeks prior to the tournament to try and make those adjustments and find a way to blend everyone's style and personality into the unit. This is a noted problem of the international game but it is one that the Young Wanderers generally have not had to deal with, yet here we are.

Taking the positive from the match, the midfield and attack looked like they were already in midseason form despite most of these players having had at least a month off since the last time that they have played a competitive match. Mária Szánthó in particular is worth quite a bit of praise, getting both a goal and assist to her name as well as numerous amount of chances created from the attacking midfield position. She really looked like a bona fide playmaker out there with the way she could string together passes and was finding space between the opposition defense and midfield, playing some killer through balls that made the strikers' and wingers jobs much easier. She is definitely worth the player of the match award that was given out by the stadium announcer and simply looked like the best player on the pitch for almost the entire match. Eustacio Corral Magana and Gillen Madrigal López were the other goal scorers, with the CAP players showing why they are already getting playing time with the senior team with the effort that they put out on the field today.

Now for the bad, which is obviously the inability to hold onto the league for the Young Wanderers, letting a eighty-first minute equalizer by Leo Olivando, as the Pemecutan striker would be a hattrick hero with that late equalizer that forced the split of the points. For a team that is full of players that are getting time on their senior team and not just with the youth team, this is especially concerning. Dalma Kollár plays in the cup games for Tanrısal and yet even she was not up to the task of keeping the opposition from scoring despite having looked stellar in the Youth League and with her limited time getting starts in the SuperLiga. It may indeed be a case of the team needing a game or two to blend together and get a good amount of chemistry but it is a really poor first step for the team that was hoping to make it to at least the quarterfinals this tournament, as their games against Tumbra and Geektopia are sure to be more difficult given the hard and close affair that those two had in their opening game. Given that the Geektopia side has those ancient players, it almost seems unfair, and thusly the Young Wanderers need to get their players all moving as a whole sooner rather than later or their tournament will be ending in the group stage and the hopes of making the late rounds of the knockouts a fools' hope.

The games against Geektopia and Tumbra are now must win games for the Young Wanderers and it feels really rough to have to label them as such, like squeezing the pressure on these young players when what they might need is to have the pressure eased off of them. However they now need those wins in order to stay competitive in a group that has become quite wide open due to that opening result against Pemecutan, one of the few upsets on the day, along with Sylestone over Farfadillis and both games in Group H. It is a bitter pill to know that the side was one of a mere four upsets on the opening day and yet they will need to show the mental fortitude to turn it all around and short term memory to not let it inflict greater causalities through the rest of the group stage. With their three goals past that Geektopia squad, it is clear that the Tumbra team has the wherewithal to get goals and that is a poor sign given the Young Wanderers' defensive display in the opening match. It is speculated that Griffiths might rotate his center defenders to shake things up and provide a bit of mystery for the Tumbra scouts but at this stage in the competition, you have to do what you need to do to get the results.

[Chromatika]

Di Bradini Cup 50, Matchday 1: Chromatika 5-1 Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom
CMT: Fillar, B. '18, '49, Fillar, E. '37, Oveni '62, Baum '81; ZRH: Popowić '31
Starting XI: Enax; Fillar, G. - Nodis - Aimée; Baum - Larriet-Cortes - Fillar, B. (C) - Andersen; Romane - Oveni - Fillar, E.
Substitutes: Kun -> Aimée ('53), Parlisien -> Andersen ('65), Hawthorne -> Romane ('81)

Almanac of Chromatik Districts/Islands
Chromatika is composed of seven different political divisions: Five Districts and Two Islands. The five districts are Capital, Coastal, Deprí, Heartland, and Mountain; the two islands are Myana and Urrhed. Let us take a deep dive into these political subdivisions, in no particular order.

Coastal District

Heartland District

1. General Information
Population: 784,427 (3.94%)
Anfanhar: 214,257
Pùr: 199,574
Lorentine: 126,375
Shantarr: 71,256
Cheonju: 41,256
Crix: 33,475
Other Locations: 101,234
Capital: Pùr
District Commissioner: Rina Ashmore, 44 (Rainbow Party)

2. Location
Located in the northwestern corner of Chromatika, the Heartland district encompasses about a quarter of the Chromatik main island, and is the second biggest District in the nation by landmass. It gets pretty hot in the summer and pretty cold in the winter, experiencing the four seasons quite distinctly.

3. Historical Information
Pre-Revolution: The Chromatik Party deemed it from the very beginning to devote the vast fields of the flatlands of this district to farming, agriculture, and the raising of livestock. In the height of the Chromatik Party, this District produced 65% of the nation's grains and rice and over 77% of the livestock. Of course, the goods would then be processed and then turned into the Capital District for distribution, taking the power away from the District, but it did give a purpose to the people's lives. Lots of Red and Orange peoples lived in the area with some oversight from the higher-ups. It was a place of beauty and of nature with the overshadowing of governmental control.

During the Revolution:
The Heartland District was one of the very first places that the Rainbow Revolution took over, devoting considerable amounts of people and resources to accomplish the job. A full stomach keeps an army happy, and the storage of grain and meats gained from the area went a long ways. As this is one of the least populous districts in the land, not a lot of people aided in the cause, but the amount of goods contributed more than made up for the difference.

Post-Revolution: The Heartland District still remains the breadbasket of the nation, with not many other cities even having the climate nor the infrastructure to grow crops. Instead, the District is making sure that the farming industry isn't subsidized and that the people who live here are doing the job because they want to, not because they have to. Better and better technologies mean that less and less people are needed to grow the crops to sustain the population's needs, which is challenging as the District already has a population problem with many people wanting to live in the bigger Districts.

Major Cities

Anfanhar is the largest city in the District, and the most populous. Anfanhar is known mostly for one thing: the country's only amusement park to date. AnfanWorld is an entity of much contention among the Chromatik populace as Anfanhar has passed quite a few laws to lower taxes being paid by the company just to keep it around. It's turned this town into a tourist town and given it much life. A lot of the city's population works for AnfanWorld and its surrounding accommodations while a considerable amount also works for the city's agricultural engineering industry that tries to better the processes being used by the rest of the District.

Pùr used to be the largest city in the District, but is still the Capital. It is where most of Chromatika's farmland is located, making it one of the geographically largest cities in the nation. Most of Pùr is dedicated to farming besides the governmental infrastructure that set it aside as the District's capital. There is also a burgeoning equestrian population in the city, which has led to Pùrites being labeled as Riders for as long as anyone can remember.

Lorentine is a baker's town. Marquis Bakery is the biggest of the lot and owns half of the city as well as the main football team. It's a tight-knit community for a city of over a hundred thousand people; Lorentiners are simple folk that take pleasure in the small things of life and good bread.

Shantarr is a smaller coastal town known for its duality in both slaughtering livestock as well as having a decent fishing industry. A lot of processing of food happens here, both from the ocean and from the land.

Cheonju has a thriving Korean population, some that are native to Chromatika and some that have come from our neighbors from the north, Quebec and Shingoryeo. Besides being a cultural hotspot, Cheonju is a growing town that looks ahead to the days when the Heartland will be beyond just being the country's breadbasket.

Crix is a small artist's town that is nestled in the Heartlands. It houses the nation's only Arts Institute at the secondary level and is home to few of the country's most successful art studios.

5. Demographics
The Heartland District has some very specific ethnic towns, like Cheonju. The population of the District at large remains 48% East Asian, 45% Eastern European, 7% Other.

6. Sports Clubs
Football
Red League: None.
Orange League: Crix, Lorentine
Yellow League: Anfanhar, Anfanhar City, Lorentine Jackals, Pùr, Shantarr
Green League: Cheonju, Shantarr City
Blue League: Flames of the West (Crix), Heartland (Cheonju)
Indigo League: Lorentine City, Pùr Cowboys

There was a season in the League Chromatiks days when the Cowboy won the season behind Carrie Mason, but those days are long gone. Nowadays, there are five teams that exist in the Yellow League level and two in the Orange League.

Baseball
Shantarr Scorpions

The Scorpions made it to the playoffs last season, and have a player on the Amateurs' roster.

Basketball
Anfanhar Giants - 2 time CBA Champions

The Anfanhar Giants won the first two seasons of the Chromatik Basketball Association before falling on harder times the last two seasons.

Hockey
None.

Gridiron Football
None.

Overall, the Heartland District is mostly a footballing district (save the Giants). They're hungry to get a team to return to the Red League, but that seems to be a bit of a ways out.

[Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom]

RekanSport
DBC50 Match 1: Huge Blow to Squad
By Ljubomira Jewrić

---

Lacking momentum, the Rekan U-21 side was knocked away by youngsters from Chromatika. The Rekan side lost by four goals and gave up five, putting the U-18 World Cup hosts dead last in their group and tournament itself. "Without ay excuses we will continue on" head coach Joko Petarić said after the matchup. The sole Rekan goal was scored by Konstantina Popowić and at that point the game was perhaps competitive. Outside of that, the Rekan attack was uninspired and the side struggled to enter the opposing third for most of the awful second half. A close 2-1 match turned ugly as Charomatika's lead doubled within around fifteen minutes. Captain Nikola Djordjewić took personal responsibility for the defeat. Djordjewić was the second of three substitutions by the Rekan side, after midfielder Marko Opština sprained a toe and before Anubis Zlatkowić was taken out.

RekanSport Statbox

---

Di Bradini Cup 50, Matchday 1: Chromatika 5-1 Zeta Reka and Hügeltaldom

---

CMT: B. Fillar. 18'/49', E. Fillar 37', Oveni 62', Baum 81'; ZRH: Popowić 31'

---

Chromatika
Starters: Enax — G. Fillar, Nodis, Aimée — Baum, Larriet-Cortes, B. Fillar (C), Andersen — Romane, Oveni, E. Fillar
Substitutes: Kun -> Aimée (53'), Parlisien -> Andersen (65'), Hawthorne -> Romane (81')

---

Zeta Reka and Hügeltaldom
Starters: Dušanić — Djordjewić (C), Zlatkowić, Iwanić, Bartowić — Opština, Macek-Leibberman Stewanowić — Popowić, Djordjić, Zurkowić
Substitutes: Opština -> Häberlin (63'), Djordjewić -> Mayer (68'), Zlatkowić -> Jehu (71')

"With a huge loss to open the campaign, all Rekan football faithfuls are in need to two huge wins" retired national team keeper Bosko Nowak wrote on his twi.tur page. Nowak also expressed "condolences" to starting keeper Wlad Dušanić. Dušanić is reportedly going to receive a second chance after a game that usually poor for the former top U-16 keeper. A few fans were unhappy. One named "Ulsachungus" online wrote in support of Dalibor Iwanowić, the "bigger, stronger, manlier" option. Popowić scoring over players like Zurkowić and Stewanowić put them in the hot seat by fans as well. Most of the starting lineup will be maintained. There will be some changes. Opština's toe injury forces him out of action for a few days. Bartowić was reportedly underwhelming to Joko Petarić, while Mayer's off the bench performance was exemplary despite the final score. The next match on Zeta Reka's schedule is the Equestrian team. If not, you'll be informer by us at RekanSport and here the Di Bradini Cup.

RekanSport Top 6:

---

• DBC50 Match 1: Huge Blow to Squad (Special Free Article)
• FLF ZRiH Divizija 1 Loan Rumors (Updated!)
• Di Bradini Cup 50 Preview (Special Free Article)
• Sport Department publishes harsh concussion report
• Lederballspiel Klub Strumsburg appeals trademark case
• Former olympic runner checked self into hospital

Free Articles remaining this month: 4